AABB24: No Increase in Transfusion-Transmitted HIV or Hepatitis B Following Implementation of IDA

Following last year’s implementation of individual donor assessment (IDA) to determine blood donor eligibility, there has been no increase in rates of confirmed infectious disease marker reactivity for HIV or hepatitis B among blood donations, according to data from the first impact analysis from a large national US-based blood collector following IDA implementation. The data was presented by Mary Townsend, MD, vice president and corporate medical director at Vitalant, during the Plenary Oral Abstract Session on Sunday morning. The data also demonstrated that IDA resulted in no significant difference in male vs. female deferral rates.

Townsend noted that the rate of active or recently treated syphilis seen in blood donations was higher in the post-IDA period compared with the rate prior to IDA implementation. However, she noted that syphilis rates are increasing throughout the United States and cited CDC data showing an 80% increase in syphilis nationwide since 2018.

To conduct this study, Townsend and her colleagues compared donor responses and infectious disease marker reactivity in blood donations for a two-year period representing one year before and one year after the implementation of IDA.

Following implementation of IDA, 2.13% of female and 2.08% of male unique donors reported yes to either new or multiple sex partners in the past three months. Deferrals based on answering yes to having engaged in anal sex with a new or multiple partners in the past three months were 0.08% among female donors and 0.10% among male donors. Townsend noted that the difference in the rate between men and women was not statistically significantly different.